Cigarette tobacco preparation



Dec. 26, 1939. R. E RUNDELL 2,184,567`

CIGARETTE TOBACCO PREPARATION ATTORNEY Dec. 26, 1939. R. E. RUNDELL2,184,567

CIGARETTE TOBACCO PREPARATION Filed Dec. 18, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @I el ATTORN EY l Patented Dec. 26, 1939 CIGARETTE 'roAcco PREPARATIONRupert E. Rundell, Rockville Centre,l N. Y., assignor to AmericanMachine & Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey -j ApplicationDecember 18, 1935, Serial No. 55,010

- 25 Claims. (Cl. 131-123) i which is more uniform, and hence producesmore by crushing any stem portions remaining in.' the 5 uniformcigarettes, and which is uier and less tobacco leaves after the stemmingoperation compacted than that made in the usual ways. 'l which is onlyintended to take out the large part Great difficulty has been found inthe past in of the stem as a rule.- The stems so crushed and makinguniform cigarettes at high speed such shredded are little different inphysical qualities that the weights of the cigarettes are uniform fromthe tobacco shreds and do not interfere with 10 and their resistance tocompression is uniform. the making of the. cigarettes. This has afurther Various attempts have been made to overcome advantage in thatwhen desired more of the stem this, which attempts usuallyconsisted inelaboportion can be left in,' with a consequent saving rate feedstructures. While these feed structures of tobacco. Indeed, it iscontemplated that and other devices for overcoming this difficulty where'a certain type of product is desired al1 of 15 were effective to someextent, they did not fully the stem portion may be left in. overcomesuch diiliculty. 'Applicant has found It is noted that once the tobaccoleaves are that by rendering the cigarette tobacco more uniyshreddedinto thin shreds for cigarette use, they form, particularly by cuttingthe tobacco so as become very diflicult to handle and hence it is 0 toproduce shreds of approximately the same one of the objects of theinvention to provide for 20 lengths and lengths relatively shorter thanordicross cutting the tobacco prior to shredding, and narily resultedfrom previous tobacco shredding then delivering the cross-cut tobacco tothe methods, he has been able to produce a tobacco shredder by suitablemeans which will reliably which lends itself to more 'uniform feeding.This deliver this tobacco tosaid shredder. To this end tobacco tends topour or feed more readily and suction means 'are employed, together withmeans 25 uniformly than irregular or long shreds which .providing ablast of air tocarry the cross-cut tend to cling together in ropes orknots. It has leaves into the nip of the shredding disks, and long beenknown that by picking the tobacco fresuitable means are provided forkeepingthe crossquently or more severely so as tc break up the cut meansclear and for stripping the same of m shreds, more uniform feeding ofthe cigarettes adhering leaf portions. .30

could be obtained, but this has the disadvantage One of the most difcultoperations in utilizof producing an excessive proportion of shorts. ingdisk'type Shredders is thek feeding of the The present invention makespossible more unileaves in suitable condition for shredding. 'As formfeeding and thus more uniform cigarettes already pointed out, irregularfeeding in bunches without producing 'an excessive amount of shorts. orknots jams the disks. l Hence, an important 35 Another object of thepresent invention is to object of the invention is the provision ofmeans offset one of the difficulties that arise in connecfor feedingleaves a leaf at a time, or at least in tion with the use of the gangdisk type tobacco .a very thin layer, and for feeding the leaves inshredder which is that the tobacco shreds resultoutspread disentangledflattened condition.' To -in ing aretoo long for the best manufacture ofthis end pneumatic leaf feeding means are pro- 40 cigarettes. Hence itis an object of the invenvided which may or may not be associated withtion to provide a convenient and effective mechastem removing means andfrom which the leaves nism which operates in conjunction with the diskare delivered with their laminae outspread. The shredder to cut thetobacco so that shreds of a outspread stemmed leaves are then fedthrough 4.-, shorter length result, and to do this without addlcrushingrollers which flatten the stems vand tional feeding operations. largerveins and deliver the leaves between op- From the above, it will be seenthat one of the posed conveyor belts which continue to` hold the moregeneral objects 'of the inventionis to render Aleaves in outspread flatcondition as they are demore convenient and satisfactory the method oflivered to the cross, cuttingmeans and thence shreddingtobacco whichconsists in shearing a to the shredder' disks. f 50 thin layer oftobacco leaves into long shreds ex-I Anothery object of the -presentinvention, partendingin the direction of movement of the ticularly thecrushing'feat'ure thereof is'the elimileaves through the shreddingmeans, in order to a't'i'on of so-ca-lled match sticks, birds-eyes, yshred tobacco without compressing the same into and losses due toexcessive quantity' of tobacco s; a cheese and thus rendering thetobacco less material being winnowed out in the cigarette 5r fluffy andsometimes darkening it. In this confeed. In using the disk typeShredders, Vwhen a nection, it is an object of the invention toelimistem extends'lengthwise 0f the plane of the disk, nate certainfeeding troubles had in connection there is often produced a long sliveror match with disk-Shredders. Disk Shredders are quite stick which isquite objectionable in the finished '60 sensitive to jamming as a resultof large stem 60 'I'his invention relates to the preparation of shreddedcigarette tobacco from tobacco leaves. The main object is to produceshredded tobacco of a type superior to that hitherto available,

portions passing through, especially several at one time, and tostoppage as a result of bunches of tobacco going through 'at one time.Hence one purpose of the invention is to obviate` this cigarette. lWhena good sized stem or veined portion passes through the disks crosswise,there is produced what is often termed a birds-eye, namely a slice ofthe. woody stem portion. In order to eliminate kthese stem pieces,modern feeds are commonly provided with winnowers, but

down below that necessary to keep out these objectionable parts. In anycase, there is a. considerable loss in that a larger weight of tobaccois required to make the same quantity of cigarettes. With the presentconstruction, however, any sliver or birds-eye forming material will befirst crushed so that it loses its objectionable characteristics.Machine efficiency is increased because there is less opening of theseam of the cigarette rod by projecting stem parts, as occasionallyoccurs with ordinary shredded tobacco. Another advantage and object ofcrushing is to avoid jamming of the disk such' as is likely to occurwhen a stem portion gets crosswise so that a large. number of disksstrike the stem at the same time.

With these and other objects not speciilcally mentioned in view, theinvention consists in certain constructions and combinations which willbe hereinafter fully described and then set forth Fig. 1 is a sectionalside elevation of an apparatus illustrating the invention;

Fig. 1a is a detail in sectional side elevation of a bearing structureof the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 2'is an end elevation, partly in section and Referring to thedrawings, the apparatus selected to illustrate the invention includes atobacco leaf opening device, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, into which theleaves are fed one by one as illustrated, tip first. When feeding thetobacco leaves into said device which is described in detail in LettersPatent No. 1,864,765, granted to R. E. Rundell and G. E. Hagquist, theleaf is guided by means of a pair of flaring lips I3 into the mouth of ashallow air chamber Il which is divided into two halves, one of which isconnected by means of a pipe l2 to a suitable source of suction. A pairof belts AI3 running over rollers I4 and l5 carry the tobacco leaf Tthrough the chamber` fl. The suction and the effect of the air drawn inalong the center of the leaf andacross its laminae towards the edgesthereof,

serves to uncurl and spread out the leaf and at the same time to subjectthe same to a powerful cleaning action, as is described in the abovementioned patent. The direction of this suction is shown by the arrowsin Fig. 3.

As the outspread leaves pass from between the lower rollers I4, they areguided between two sets of conveyor belts 13a running in grooves ofrollers I4 and I3 onto the surface of a perforated cyllndrical'suctiondrum l1 which rotates about Shaft 35 also carries a gear 33 engagingwith a a stationary hollow apertured 'suction box I3 communicatingthrough a tube I9 with one of the suction pipes I2. y

The leaf is then stemmedas follows: The tip of the leaf is carriedaround by the suction effect 5 of the drum I1 and is held fast to saiddrum and carried -toA a point where the leaf is gripped between the drumand a loop 20a of a conveyor belt 20 (Fig. 4). This belt runs oversuitable roll'- ers 2|, 22, 23, and 25. Parallel with and in l0 opposedrelation to the drum I1 is a rotating cylinder 26 having a series ofaxially spaced slotted cylindrical flanges 21. Mounted for axialmovement on this drum are a plurality of plungers 28 each of which isprovided with a row of in- `1:1 clined pins movable in slots of theflages 21 to form transversely and circumferentially extending gangs ofgrippers which grip the portion of the stem projecting above the laminaeof the leaf from the cylinder I1, as described in the above mentionedpatent. The distance between the suction drum I1 and the grippercylinder 23 is set to accommodate the thickness of the leaf portion andso much of the small end of the stem as it is desired to leave in theleaf, without the i. same being gripped. 'I'hus that portion of the stemlarger than the distance between drum I1 andiianges 21 will be gripped.Since the surface of .the drum I1 and the grippers 23 and flanges 21 ofthe drum 26 travel along diverging paths, the stem will be tom-away fromthe laminae, as shown in Fig. 4. Suitable brushes 30 and 3| serve tostrip any clinging leaf or stem portions from the drums I1 and 26, Vandthe stems pass into the chute 32.

The stemmed leaf is thenv delivered in' outspread condition by the belt20 to the stem crushing and leaf flattening device illustrated inFig. 1. This flattening device consists of a bottom roller 33 and a toproller 34, said rollers spaced apart a distance which is about equal tothe thickness of a tobacco leaf. Bottom roller 33 is mounted on a shaft35 driven by means of a pulley 33 and a belt 31 from the main drive ofthe machine:

. 45 gear 33 mounted on a shaft 43 to which top roller 34 is attached.The latter is driven slightly faster than the bottom-roller 33 in orderto get a combination of sliding and pressing action of the rollers uponthe passing leaf, thereby assuring a most efficient flattening of thestems and veins in the leaf L.

nach of said roners /n and u is equipped wana rotary moisture cleaner,each of which consists of a felt roller 4| engaging with and driven in a65 direction opposite toits roller 33 or 34 respectively. Each feltroller 4I is mounted on a perforatedhollow shaft 42, the ends of which,by means of pipes 43. are connected toa water reservoir 44 supported bythe main frame 45 of the machine. 6 The water acts as a liquid solvent,and preferably is supplied under an adequate degree of pressure,aiforded'by the gravity head from reservoir 44 in the instanceillustrated. 'I'he wiping action of the moist rotating felt rollers 4Iprevent any particles 65 of tobacco or other foreign matter fromsticking to any of said rollers and keeps the same clean at all times. Ascraper 41a in engagement with each felt roller 4I is provided for thepurpose of pre- 70 K venting accumulation of dirt on said let rollers.'

the direction indicated by arrows in runs'over rollers 48, 49 and 50.

In order not to disturb the flattened and stemmed leaf during conveying,an additional conveyor or guide belt 5|, running over rollers 52, 53 and54 is guided onto belt 41, both belts of course running in the samedirection and at the same speed and guiding the leaf into the crosscutting device illustrated in Figs. l and.2. The cross-cutting deviceconsists of a cylinder carrying a desired number of slightly spirallyshaped knife blades 56, the cutting edges of which, during) rotation ofcylinder 55, engage with a cutting roller 51 mounted on a shaft 58supported in bearings of main frame 45. Shaft 58 carries a pulley 59(Fig. 2) driven by means of a belt 60 from the main drive of themachine. Cylinder 55 is mounted on a shaft 6| which is actuated by shaft58 through a pair of gears 62 (Fig. 2). To shaft 58 is attached asprocket 63 driving, through a` chain 64 and a sprocket 63a, a shaft 65which carries the driving roller 50 of the conveyor belt 41. Shaft 65,through a pair of gears 66 (Fig. 2), drives also a shaft 61 whichcarries the roller 54 driving conveyor belt 5|.

Referring to Fig. 1a, shaft 6| is supported by means of bearing blocks19 slidably mounted in Fig. 1 and guide -channels 80 of frame 45. Inorder to assure positive cutting action during the engagement of blades56 with cutting roller 51, each bearing block 19 is equipped with atension spring 8|, the pressure of which is adjustable by means ofadjusting screw 82 held by frame 45. Each block 19 is further providedwith an adjustable stop stud 83 for the purpose of preventingundesirable reciprocation of shaft 6| and cylinder 55 during disengagingand re-engaging of blades 56 with rollers 51.

Cylinder 55 as well as cutting roller 51 is provided with rotatingbrushes 68 for the purpose of preventing any part of tobacco fromadhering ieither to said cylinder or roller. Each rota-ting brush 68 isfurther subjected to an air blast comf ing out of nozzles 69 providedfor the purpose of keeping the rotating brushes 68 clean and direct-.ing the cut leaf pieces into the rotary disk shredder.

ing long and undesirable strings likely to tangle, after the leaf is cutby the rotary disk shredder.

The disk shredder consists of two engaging rows of disks 10, each ofwhich is mounted on a shaft 1| .connected to each other by means' of apair of gears 12 (Fig. 2) To one of the shafts 1| is mounted a pulley13. driven by means of belts 141` from the main drive of the machine.Each one of the smaller disks 18a of each row is in engagement with astripper plate 15 for the purpose of guiding the shredded tobacco into asuction conveyor 16 located underneath said rows of disks. This suctionfrom this conveyor also serves to feed the cross-cut leaf portions fromthe cutter rolls 55 and '56 to thedisks. Gravity also aids in this sincethe disks are directly below said rolls. The cross cutting device,aswell as the rotary disk shredder, are enclosed in a housing 11connected tothe suction conveyor 16. The air blast supplied to nozzles69 is created by an exhaust fan (not shown) and directed to each nozzleby means of pipes 18 (Fig. l)

In the operation of the machine selected for the purpose of illustratingtheapparatus and method of the invention. tobacco leaves are fed betweenthe flared lipsy ||l` of the pneumatic leaf opening mechanism shown inFigs. 3 and 4. As the leaves are carried downwardly through the suctionThe cross cutting of the leaf is done for :the purpose of preventing thetobacco from formchambers Il, air is sucked in at the central slotbetween the chambers and drawn from the stem portion across the laminaetowards the edges of the leaf. Since the air is closely confined, its

velocity is considerable and it has a powerful 5 straightening anddisentangling effect. The opened and disentangled leaves are thendelivered by belts |3a to the. stem removing means shown in Figs. 3 and4 which may be of any suitable construction such as that alreadydescribed in connection with the drums I1 and 26. It is noted, however,that this stemming means removes the portion ofthe stem which is above acertain thickness and leaves the remainder in the leaf, and thus acertain predetermined portion of the stem is left in the leaf andultimately forms a part of the shredded tobacco, and so far as this stemportion can be used in the making of a cigarette it constitutes vasaving over completely removing the stem. The partly stemmed leaf isthen delivered by belts 2|l to the stem crushing rolls 33 and 34. Theserolls are of conventional construction and are set apart a distancesomewhat greater than the thickness of the laminae of the leaf, but lessthan the thickness of the stems and the larger veins in 2 order toinsure crushing `of the stems and veins. Since the stem portions arecrushed, there are no slivers or birds-eyes in the ultimate shreddedroduct having a size siicien't to be objectionable to the smoker or tosplit open the seam of the rod in cigarette manufacture, and the use ofa certain proportion of the stem inthe manufactured cigarette isrendered unobjectionable. It is worth nothing that one of the causes ofburning of holes by cigarettes is the falling of glowing pieces of stemsfrom the cigarette, and crushing to a large extent eliminates this. Thecrushed and flattened leaves are then delivered between belts 41 and 5|which hold the leaf in the position in which it is delivered from thecrusher, ordinarily lengthwise of the direction of movement of the leaf,and grips the leaf to carry the same between the cutting rolls 55 and51. The blades 56 acting against the roll 51 as a ledger surface, cutthe leaves into predetermined lengths 4as shown in Fig. 1. While theselengths may be greatly varied to meet different conditions and kinds oftobacco and types of cigarettes,'one satisfactory length for UnitedStates cigarettes has been found to be approximately 1%". Y

The leaves cut to predetermined lengths are then fed directly in avertical direction to the disks 10 ofthe multiple disk gang cutter.Since the length of the shreds and the proper functioning of the diskshredder is dependent to a considerable extent on the uniform andorderly feeding of the leaf pieces edgewise, and approximately at rightangles to the cut of the leaves, it is important that the leaves bedelivered directly and in a controlled manner from the cutter to theshredder. For this purpose. the cutting rolls are arranged directlyabove the shredding disks and the leaves are dropped by gravity to thedisks underneathz Also, brushes 88 are provided for insuring that therolls stay clean and that the cut leaves are stripped 'therefrom andforwarded into the nip of the disks 10. For this purpose the brushesconstitute movsame. to the shredder by means of a suction air currentinduced through the suction conduit 16. Movement of the leaves into thenip of the disks is furtherassisted by air blast nozzles 69, althoughthese may in`some formsbe dispensed with. These nozzles also have theadvantage of cooling the disks which are subject to heating due to theirintimate face to face contact. Y

The disks and spaces betweenthe disks are o substantially the samethickness so that each disk fits closely in face to face contact betweenthe two adjoining and opposing disks of the other gang.

This produces a scissor like shearing cutting with-- fed with the cutedges thereof approximately at right angles to the direction of feedinto the disks, the shreds will not ordinarily materially exceed thelength of the leaf pieces. Thus a relatively short shred will beproduced as compared with that which would result from feeding wholeleaves to the disk either crosswise or sidewise of their length, and ashred will be produced which is much more uniform in length and shorterin length than that which will result from guillotine cutting. Moreover,after shredding, there will be no stem or vein portions or slivers orbirds-eyes of objectionable thickness, because of crushing prior to diskcutting. Due to this crushing the operation of the disk shredder isfacilitated since there are few or no jams due to relatively thick stemportions striking the disks.

The method, apparatus and product above described and illustrated may bewidely varied in construction within the scope of the claims, for thespecific methods, products and structures selected to illustrate theinvention are but certain of many possible embodiments of the same. Theinvention, therefore, is not to be restricted to the details illustratedand described nor to the particular embodiments chosen as illustrativeof the invention.

From the foregoing it will be clear that the broad strips in moving fromthe cross cutter to the shredder are under constant control. It is alsoto be noted that the compressed air blasts from the nozzle 69 smooth andfeed the leaves in close succession.

What is claimed is: l

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination with ashredding device comprising a plurality of gangs of interengagingshearing disks in face to face contact arranged to cut tobacco leavesinto shreds of a width suitable for cigarette manufacture, of a crosscutting device arranged to cut the tobacco into long, broad strips, andmeans to feed the broad strips under control, While said strips aremaintained transversely of the direction of cut of said disks, into therange of action of said disks, preliminary to said shredding operation.

2. In a machine of the character described, the

combination with a shredding device comprising ..trol, while said stripsare maintained transversely of the direction of cut of said disks, andpreliminary to said shredding operation, from one of said devicesdirectly into the range of action of the other.

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination with ashredding device comprising a plurality of gangs of interengagingshearing disks in face to face contact arranged to cut tobacco leavesinto shreds of a width suitable for cigarette manufacture, of a crosscutting device arranged to cut the tobacco into long broad stripstransversely of the direction of cut of said disks and preliminary tosaid shredding operation, and pneumatic means including a suctionvconduit for feeding the broad strips of tobacco from one of saiddevices directly to the other, said feeding suction being applied afterthe cross cutting operation and preliminary to the shredding operationand acting in the direction of the lengths of the shreds.

4. In a machine of the character described, the combination with ashredding device comprising a plurality of gangs of interengagingshearing disks in face to face contact arranged to cut tobacco leavesinto shreds of a width suitable for cigarette manufacture, of a crosscutting device arranged to cut the tobacco transversely of the directionof cut of said disks preparatory to the shredding operation, one of saiddevices being placed above the other to feed the tobacco in the form oflong strips, cut transversely to the leaf, edgewise into the bite ofsaid interengaging shearing disks, with a gravity bias, and cooperatingopposed pneumatic streams and complemental opposed brushes, adapted tosupplement and control said vertical gravity feed to said disks.

5. In a machine of the character described,

the combination with a cigarette tobacco shredding device comprising aplurality of rotating gangs of interengaging shearing disks for cuttingtobacco leaves into shreds for cigarette manufacture, of a cross cuttingdevice operating to cut the tobacco in a direction transverse to thedirec- .tion of cut of said shearing disks, and means for delivering thecross cut tobacco from said cross cutting device to said shreddingdevice, said delivery means being adapted to maintain the crosscuttobacco inbroad strips under constant control from the cutter to theshredder, with the leading and trailing edges of the successive stripsin substantially a plane passing through the bites of the cutting andshredding devices in the order named.

6. A machine of the character described, having the features claimed inclaim 5, and said delivering means including instrumentalitles forsupplying opposed blasts of compressed air in position to smooth andfeedin close succession the broad strips of cross cut tobacco into saidtobacco leaves into shreds for cigarette manufacture, of a cross cuttingdevice operating to cut the tobacco in a direction transverse to thedirection of dut. of said shearing' disks, means for delivering thecross cut tobacco from said cross cutting device to said shreddingdevice, a'pair of crushing rolls and means for delivering leaves fromsaid crushing rolls under constant -control directly to said cutting andshredding devices, in the order named, whereby the leaves are crushed toa substantially uniform condition for utilization of the entire leafstructure, are then cut into broad strips transversely of their length,

and are sheared into shreds of uniform length defined by the breadth ofeach strip.

8. In a machine of the character described, the combination with ashredder comprising a plurality of rotating gangs of interengaging disksfor cutting tobacco leaves into threds for cigarette manufacture, of across cutting device arranged to cut the tobacco in a directiontransverse to the direction of cut of said disks, and mechanism forspreading out tobacco leaves and delivering the tobacco leaves inoutspread c ondition to said cutting and shredding devices, in the ordernamed. maintaining said outspread condition after reduction of each leafto a series of transversely disposed broad strip components by thecutting mechanism, and thereby insuring the production of a shreddedproduct in which the shreds are of uniforln length and unimpairedquality, and are delivered in the direction of the length of the shreds.

9. In a machine of the character described, the combination with ashredder comprising a plurality of rotating gangs of interengaging disksfor shearing tobacco leaves into shreds for cigarette manufacture, ofmeans to remove the heavy stem parts of tobacco leaves, stem crushingmeans to act on horizontally traveling tobacco leaves, so partiallystemmed, conveying means for receiving the horizontally travelingtobacco leaves from said crushing means and delivering the crushedtobacco leaves under constant control downwardly toward said disks, anda crosscutter'device adapted to divide said crushed and flattenedpartially stemmed leaves into broad strips preparatory to the shreddingthereof by said disks.

10. In a machine ofthe character described, the combination with ashredding devicecomprising a plurality of gangs of interenga'gingshearing disks in face to face contact arranged to cut tobacco leavesinto threds of a width suitable for cigarette manufacture, of a crosscutting device arranged to cut the tobacco transversely of the directionof cut of said disks, said cross cutting device being arranged abovesaid disks to feed the cross cut tobacco into said disks with the aid ofgravity, means acting positively in addition to the gravity bias tocontrol said feed from the cutter to the shredder,.and said crosscuttobacco being constituted of long strips cut transversely of the lengthof the leaf and being vfed edgewise intothe bite of said disks.4

11. In a machine of -the character described, the combination with ashredding device comprising a plurality lof gangs' of interengagingshearing disks in face to face contact arranged to cut tobacco leavesinto 'shreds of a width suitable for cigarettelmanufacture, of a crosscutting device arranged to cut theY tobacco transversely of thedirection of cut of said disks, said cross cutting device being arrangedabove said disks to advance into the bite of said disks with the 4crosscut leaves into the disks. l

12. In a machine of the character described,

the combination with a shredding device comprising a plurality of gangsof interengaging shearing disks arranged to cuttobacco leaves intoshreds of a width suitable for cigarette manufacture, of a crosscuttingdevice arranged to cut tobacco leaves transversely of thedirection of cut of said disks and auxiliary feeding means" devicebetween which means the cross cut leaves are delivered by said cuttingdevice.

13. In a machine of the character described, the combination with across cutting device for cutting tobacco leaves into predeterminedlengths, of a shredder comprising a plurality of gangs of interengagingshredding disks, and means for feeding tobacco leaves edgewise throughsaid cutting device to said shredder, and delivering means adapted tomaintain the crosscut tobacco in broad strips with the leading andtrailing edges of the successive strips in substantially a plane passingthrough the bites of the cutting and shredding devices in the ordernamed.

14. In a machine of the character described,

the combination with a shredding device comprising a plurality of gangsof interengaging shearing disks, of leaf crushing means and leaf feedingmeans for feeding crushed tobacco leaves into said disks, cuttermechanisms for cutting the crushed leaves transversely of the directioncf-their movement from the crushing means to the'shredding devicevasthey are delivered to the latter, and delivery means adapted to maintainthe cross cut tobacco in broad strips with the leading and trailingedges of the successive strips disposed in edgewise successionsubstantially in a plane passing through the bites of the cutting andshredding devices in the order named.

15. In a machine of the character described, the combination with ashredding device comprising a plurality of gangs of interengagingshearing disks, of leaf crushing means and leaf feeding means forfedding crushed tobacco leaves into said disks, cutter mechanisms forcutting the leaves transversely of the direction of their movement fromthe crushing means to the shreddingdevice as they are delivered tothelatter, means operating said cutting mechanism to give the same travelin the direction of movement of said leaves to the shredding device, anddelivery means adapted to maintainthe cross cut tobacco in broad stripswith the leading and trailing edges of the successive strips disposed inedgewise succession substantially in a plane passing through the bitesof the cutting and shreddin devices in the order named.

16. The method of preparing shredded cigarette tobacco from tobaccoleaves which comprises cutting the leaves crosswise of their length intoa plurality of pieces and shredding said pieces in a directiontransverse to the direction of said cutting to produce'shreds not longerthan a predetermined length, and maintaining the cross cut tobacco,after cutting and prior to shredding, in substantially a planiformarrange' ment of broad strips, each of substantially a lengthcorresponding to a cross dimension of ,the leaf, and ofa widthcorresponding to the desired shred length, by applying to said stripsrotating forces and pneumatic forces from opposite sides of the strips,and operating in the general direction of travel toward the shreddingstation'.

1'?.V The method` of preparing cigarette tobacco from tobacco leaveswhich comprises feeding the leaves` endwise, cutting the leavescrosswise of the direction of their feeding movement to a predeterminedlength, shredding the cu't leaves lengthwise of their direction ofmovement to produce shreds not longer than a predetermined length,determined by the cross cut dimension,

and maintaining the cross cut tobacco, after cutting and prior toshredding, in substantially a. planiform arrangement of broad strips,each of substantially a length corresponding to a cross dimension of theleafl` and of a Width corresponding to the desired shred length, byapplying to 'form arrangement of broad strips, each of substantially alength corresponding to a cross dimension of the leaf, and of a Widthcorresponding to the desired shred length, by applying to said stripsrotating forces and pneumatic forces from opposite sides of the strips,and operating in the general direction of travel toward the shredder,

19. The method of preparing shredded tobacco leaves which comprisescontinuously feeding the leaves, passing the traveling leaves betweenmoving crushing surfaces to crush the stems, cuttingthe leaves crosswiseof their direction of movement into pieces and shredding said cut piecesinto shreds suitable for cigarette manufacture, and maintaining thecross .cut tobacco, after cutting and prior to shredding, insubstantially a planiform arrangement of broadstrips, each ofsubstantially a length corresponding to a cross `dimension of the leaf,and of a width corresponding to the desired shred length, by applying'tosaid strips rotating forces and pneumatic forces from opposite sides `ofthe strips, and operating in the general direction of travel toward theshredder.

20. The method of preparing shredded tobacco leaves which comprisescontinuously feeding the leaves, passing the traveling leaves betweenmoving crushing surfaces to crush the stems, cutting the leavescrcsswise of their direction of movement into pieces and shredding saidcut p1eces into shreds suitable for `cigarette manufacture, andpartially stemming said leaves prior to crushing, and maintaining thecross cut tobacco, after cutting and prior to shredding, insubstantially a planiform arrangement of broad strips, each ofsubstantially a length correspondmg to a cross dimension of the leaf,and of a width corresponding to the desired shred length, by applying tosaid strips rotating forces and pneumatic forces from opposite sides ofthe strips, and operating in the general direction of travel toward theshredder.

-21. In a cigarette tobacco shredding machine, the combination with ashredder for shredding cigarette tobacco into narrow shreds of a widthsuitable for use in cigarette tobacco feeds for manufacturingcigarettes, of feeding means for feeding tobacco to said shredder, acutter for lcutting the tobacco fed to said shredder by said feedingmeans into predetermined lengths prior to delivery to the shreddingmeans, said feeding means including mechanism for maintaining control ofthe leaves between cutting and shredding positions to hold said lengthswith their cut edges in substantially a predetermined position relativeto the direction of cut of the shredder as said lengths are deliveredthereto, by applying to said strips rotating forcs and pneumatic forcesfrom opposite sides of the strips, and operating in the generaldirection of travel toward the shredder.

22. The method of preparing tobacco for cigarette manufacture whichcomprises, forwarding the leaves, drawing a current of air over thesurface of the leavesKoward the opposite margins thereof to clean thesame, cutting-the forwarded leaves into a plurality of relatively largepieces, and cutting the pieces of the forwarded leaves in a .directiontransverse to that of the first mentioned cutting into narrow shredssuitable for cigarette manufacture, and maintaining the .cross cuttobacco, after cutting and prior to shredding, in substantially aplaniform arrangement of broad strips, each of substantially a lengthcorresponding to a cross dimension of the leaf, and of a widthcorresponding to the desired shred length, by applying to said stripsrotating forces and pneumatic forces from opposite lsides of the strips,and operating in the general direction of travel toward the shredder.

23. In a machine of the character described, the combination with ashredder comprising knives for shearing tobacco leaves into shreds forcigarette manufacture, of a cross-cutting device arranged to cut thetobacco in a direction transverse to the direction of cut of saidshearing knives, to form broad strips of tobacco, mechanism forspreading out tobacco leaves and delivering the tobacco leaves inoutspread condition to said cross-cutting device and means acting uponsaid ut sections as they pass from the cutting to the shredding devicesto smooth and feed in close succession said broad strips of the cutleaves for shredding, said broad strips being thus individuallycontrolled as they pass to the shredder, whereby the shreds are likewiseindividualized and fed lengthwise in multiple.

24. A machine of the character described, having the features claimed inclaim 5, in which provision is made of means for spreading out thetobacco leaves and delivering them to said cross cutting means.

25. In a machine of the character described, the combination with meansto remove the butts and heavy stem parts of tobacco leaves, crushingrolls for crushing and flattening residual stem portions in the tobaccoleaves, a moving conveyor for receiving the partially stemmed andcrushed tobacco leaves from said crusher and delivering them to acutting station, cross-cutting devices at said station acting to reducesaid outspread leaves to the form of a substantially continuoussuccession of outspread flat strip components having each a widthcorresponding to the desired initial length of desired shreds, shearingknives for shearing said strips transversely of their length into shredsthe "major portion of which are of uniform width andlength, suitable foruse as cigarette tobacco, and means to control said strips in theirpassage from said cutting station to said shredder.

RUPERT E. RUNDEIL.

